Customer Reviews

One-Minute Discipline : Classroom Management Strategies That Work

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

One-Minute Discipline is one of my all-time favorite books on teaching, and I've read a lot of books about teaching! It is about so much more than discipline. The section on "teaching philosophy" is profound. There are fantastic support ideas, lists, tips, techniques, forms, surveys and quotes on discipline, motivation (both student and teacher)and teaching.

My favorite thing is that nothing is taken for granted. Bianco discusses the most fundamental aspects of "basic teacher behavior" - everything from developing the "laser stare" to the "I mean business face" to "voice control" (the teacher's voice volume, though he says plenty about student voice volume too).

I took notes on the whole book and came away with a plethora of creative ideas - alternative ways for students to ask for teacher assistance (written note, desk token, etc.); multiple problem-student behavior contract forms; great ideas on dealing with a variety of hostile situations (parents, student fights, etc.); and great reward ideas.

Bianco obviously has total respect for students of all types, and his approaches are eminently positive; in fact he provides a variety of methods for monitoring that your teacher behavior is positive. However the book is about staying in control, conserving your energy for the long haul, and keeping your motivation and enthusiasm high.

The book is also so easy-to-read, with so many visuals, that it's almost like reading a comic book. I put stickies throughout the whole book, and come back and leaf through it whenever I need inspiration or strategies to solve a knotty problem.

This is a great book for beginning teachers with little to no experience in the classroom. It gives you many ideas to push you in the right direction.

As a teacher who is going into my 5th year of teaching I was looking for something a little more in depth. I know my weaknesses and was familier with everything Mr. Bianco suggested. There were no real Ah ha moments while reading this book--I've heard it all before really. He gives you the basics, but if you are having specific issues beyond that, he just doesn't delve much deeper. I also found several things that were contradictory. He talks on one hand about making the punishment fit the crime, but on another page there are "disclipine cards" where a student randomly picks his punishment--like dusting the classroom!!! Very weird.

I will end this by saying that I do think this is a great book for beginning teachers, but having been in the classroom for several years, it didn't teach me anything I didn't already know!

This book looked good online as I looked at the example pages. But, when I looked at in in person, I realized there's not much to it. Each topic is only discussed briefly with very little examples. It states ideas such as a classroom meeting, but does not describe how to go about it. Also, this book is really written for middle school or high school teachers-not elementary teachers.

This book provides some helpful ideas that work. However, you need to read the book carefully and earmark those ideas that are most helpful to you.

This book is like weak coffee - its 250 pages could be easily condensed to 50, and none of the ideas are earthbreaking - just the opposite, in fact. Your time would be better spent trading ideas in the teachers' lounge. The book is also padded with lots of illustrations, speech bubbles and lists that are useless and irritating. It reminds me of a greengrocer putting his thumb on the scale. Definitely not worth your time or your money.

For new teachers, this might be a useful book. It probably would have helped me when I started teaching (although at that point I found the Canters' Assertive Discipline, and that also worked). At this point, though, I found it shallow and lacking in the real substance I need to help me reach those last few students for whom ordinary strategies do not work.

The author gives you multiple ways in which you can manage your students.
So, yes it contains numerous "how-to-do" advice and strategies.

I purchased this book because it was recommended, (for a class I'm taking to continue my certification), but not required. I wish I'd saved my money. The title suggested to me it would be a book I could pick up at a crucial moment and find help for a discipline problem I might have. That's not true, unless you think opening to a page that says "We teachers can only help the work going on, as servants wait upon a master," is somehow useful when your students are out of control. However, if you love the idea of copying useless statements like this and decorating your office with them, buy this book. It has lots more.

There are a lot of worthless pages in this book. One spends a paragraph describing what school mascots are, and then fills the page with a picture of a bear wearing a hat. This is listed under "Home and School" as a support idea. What it's supporting I can't tell. I especially enjoyed the page that appeared twice, stating that new teachers should have a mentor. Most of the page was taken up with a large cartoonish drawing. Yes, they should. But so what? There's no mention of what to do if you don't have one, or how to find one yourself, or how to work with one. Just this useless factoid.

I wouldn't want to imply that there is nothing of value here. There are some pages you could duplicate and use. But there are too few for the cost of the book.

I have never written such a negative review, but I think this slickly produced book is a huge waste of time and money for anyone. I pity the teacher who tries to develope a discipline plan from it. If you want an alternative try The Classroom Teacher's Survival Guide, by Partin. It was suggested for the class, too, and I'm quite happy with it. It covers everything One-Minute does, but with some actual depth. It also has many more useful handouts to copy. One-Minute Discipline is like having the particularly pointless powerpoint slides to a presentation. Survival Guide is like taking the course: handouts, discussion, lecture, and all.

One-Minute Discipline provides a framework for management techniques, strategies, and ideas. Every teacher can find something of value in this informative guidebook.

This is a great book for all teachers! Great techniques for getting or regaining control over your classroom!